Helping Britain to second

Jonathan Padley.

Published:09:00Wednesday 23 July 2014

After more than a month at sea, adventurer Jonathan Padley has returned from the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

And the Wyberton resident - who was a sailing novice before he applied to take part in the challenge - more than played his part in helping the Great Britain team claim second place overall, behind winners Henri Lloyd.

Jonathan linked up with the team to take part in leg eight of the challenge, which included the final three races.

Race 14 - from New York to Londonderry - was hampered by winds which made the contest something of a lottery.

However, the GB crew came from last place to take the lead, before finally being pegged back to fifth.

The same scenario played out in race 15, which saw the 12 yachts battle it out for superiority from Northern Ireland to Den Helder in the Netherlands.

But Jonathan and the Great Britain team ended the event on a huge high as they won the final race, which concluded with sailing down the Thames to finish in London.

“The winds were consistent and we won which was particularly special as that was our home leg being the GB boat arriving back into London,” Jonathan said.

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is the only event of its type, the only race in the world where the organisers supply the fleet of 12 identical 70-foot, stripped-down racing yachts – each sponsored by a brand – and manned with a fully-qualified skipper, employed to lead the crews safely around the globe.